


The Hippie and the Hothead at the Office, feat. Stronghold

by GGonzalez303



Category: Sky High (2005), The Office (US)
Genre: Best Friends, Birthdays, Boredom, Eventual Romance, F/M, Family Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Michael Is A Maker of Chaos, Protective Jim, Slow To Update, Summer Vacation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:26:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24442063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GGonzalez303/pseuds/GGonzalez303
Summary: Pam Beesley's niece, Layla Williams, has a dilemma and she doesn't even know it yet. On a visit to Scranton, can Pam help Layla out? Even if she isn't super herself?
Relationships: Pam Beesly/Jim Halpert, Warren Peace/Layla Williams
Comments: 5
Kudos: 13





	1. Layla and Co. Visit the Office

**Author's Note:**

  * For [theroadverytravelled](https://archiveofourown.org/users/theroadverytravelled/gifts).



**PAM BEESLEY WATCHED AS THE DOOR TO THE SCRANTON BRANCH OPENED.** Michael made some bombastic entrance and the strawberry blonde rolled her eyes. When he asked if she shredded or trashed anything from corporate - "Yes, Michael. I shredded anything from Jan." - then went on his way, Jim popped up by her desk.

"Is it your mom or Layla?" He asked with a grin. It was an infectious smile that Pam always gave Jim in return.

Before she could get a word out, Pam watched as the cameras moved from the corner of her eye to the door. "MOM, DAD, I'M HOME!" A familiar young woman's voice exclaimed. "AND I BROUGHT FRIENDS!"

"Hippie, calm down. I don't think all of Scranton needs to hear you announce our arrival," Pam wasn't as familiar with this voice but she knew it well enough to decipher it as most likely Warren Peace - Layla's... _something_.

"C'mon, Peace, let her have some fun," Will Stronghold replied while Layla launched herself at Pam.

(Pam just barely had enough time to stand before her rambunctious niece ended up buried into her chest.)

Jim bit back a chuckle.

And, then Pam internally cheered as Layla made her way around the receptionist desk and tackled Jim in her stead. "I'll get the coffee," Pam said to the boys.

"As if Hippie needs it," the tall, black haired boy said _fondly_. The strawberry blonde saw how he looked at Layla and sighed. Oh, she needed to speak with her niece soon...

* * *

**"SO YOU ARE PAM'S NIECE?"** The interviewer asked. She looked like someone Layla knew from Maxville - Darcy was it? Darcy something? Either way she was a short brunette who should've been in college.

Layla played with a part of her long skirt that she sewed herself. "Well, yeah. My mom is her sister -"

"Then why did you call her 'Mom' and Jim Halpert 'Dad'?"

The conference room suddenly felt warm. Not in the way Warren was warm, protective heat that provided comfort that stayed with her, but stifling heat.

It was the heat that choked you when you tried to breath. It was the heat that made you woozy. The heat that destroyed your insides and wish for cool summer showers. The heat in the room was the heat that Bonnie Tyler sang about - and then _outdone_ by Jennifer Saunders' rendition in _Shrek 2_ \- in "Holding Out for a Hero".

After all, how do you explain to complete strangers that your mother is more interested in saving penguins then her daughter's fifteenth birthday?

 _She needed to get out of the room_.

Funnily enough, her hero seemed to not be in the form of Will Stronghold, best friend and boyfriend, but as Warren Peace, best friend and almost always knight in leather armor.

He barged in, ignoring the interviewer, and pulled Layla into his arms. Basking in the scents of burning wood, clean after shave, and coffee was where Layla let herself relax.

"Hippie," Warren murmured in a tone that said that she did not want him finishing the sentence.

"Yeah?"

"You shook the building."

"Again?"

* * *

**PAM, JIM, AND WILL WATCHED ON.** "I'm going need to have a talk with that kid, aren't I?" Jim mused as the two friends disentangled themselves.

Pam laughed at that. "And you wonder why she calls you 'Dad'," the receptionist replied.

"Why does she do that?" Will asked seemingly out of no where. "Call you 'Mom' and 'Dad', I mean. I met her Mom - she's awesome!"

He said only a few things the whole time he's been here, and that's what he asks? He must really not be a "best friend" then if he didn't know - or maybe Layla never told him. That seemed more likely, Jim noted. He and Pam shared a glance as Layla exited the conference room with Warren.

"I'll tell you guys later, but how about we get coffee or food or maybe both?" Layla asked with a pleading look in her eye.

"Of course," Pam replied.

"Thank you."


	2. "No Michael, no birthday parties for Layla!"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the prologue out of the way, it's time for Pam and Jim to get up to the usual Office hijinks. Only now it deals with their surrogate daughter and her love life.
> 
> Coming up - Michael Scott hosts another party, Layla looks for a summer job, and Warren goes with her... much to Will's dismay.

**LAYLA SAT ON THE BAR STOLL WITH A PAPER IN HAND.** Looking for jobs was never easy, and, if she ever needed to, she could go into the florist industry when she was older. However, that did not solve the problem of _now_.

" _I still don't understand why you didn't tell the boys about how minorly screwed up your family is,_ " Magenta said while Layla continuously circled and crossed out possibilities. The alternative punk girl continued in her wise yet sarcastic tirade. " _I mean, your best friends - all three of us - care about you and wouldn't judge you or your situation. Remember, Warren's dad is in jail, Will needs to deal with being the perfect son like all of the time, and my family is so normal no one knows why I have powers! We've all got problems... yours are just a bit more screwy._ "

"That's the point, Mag," Layla replied with a weary sigh of frustration before putting the paper down. The small apartment was quiet. Aunt Pam was at work with Uncle Jim and the bastard who won't marry her aunt is there too. The boys, Will and Warren, decided to go looking around Scranton for souvenirs to bring back to their respective parent(s).

The redhead played with her fiery tresses as she looked up at the ceiling. "My problems are trivial compared to the pressure on Will and the preconceived notions placed upon Warren. So what, my mom had a kid too young and when she was able pushed said kid off on her more responsible sister to take care of? That stuff happens every day. I'm just lucky Mom and Dad are nice people who love me."

" _Layla Evelyn Williams! Do **not** insinuate that your own problems mean **nothing**! I get that you don't have it remotely bad, but you were raised by two people who live across the friggin country! You weren't even nine when your mother did this to you! Don't down play your resentment towards your mother - or how upset you were when she never showed up to _Forty-Second Street _!_ "

Layla heard a _click_ but she was too caught up in the growing tirade-off between her and Magenta to even consider who was home. "Do you think it's fair that I complain about my absentee mother when -"

"Hippie, I think you need to lower your voice. We're in an apartment complex."

" _Hey! Is that the Zuko Wannabe? Hey, Prince Zuko, how's Pennsylvania?_ "

"Hanging up now, Mag," Layla said as a goodbye before ending the call. When she turned around, she was met with Warren's raised eyebrow. Trying to hide her previous conversation, the cytokenetic cleared her throat. "Mag's funny, isn't she?"

"Yeah," Will piped up. "She was checking in right? She said she would."

"Yeah, she sends her hello to you guys -"

"Hippie, what happened with your mom?" Warren cut in. He gave her a look that stated he definitely heard part of the conversation. She deflated just a bit.

* * *

**"EVERYONE I HAVE AN IDEA!"** Michael exclaimed as he stomped out of his office. Pam spared a glance towards Jim and she knew immediately that they were thinking the same thing.

_Oh no._

"Layla is turning fifteen soon -"

"You are not throwing a party for our daughter, Michael!" Pam and Jim shrieked at the same time. The office went silent. The two friends looked at one another trying to process what they said.

With everyone staring at the salesman and the receptionist, the camera zoomed in on Michael.

No one saw the grin stretching across his face. The manager clapped his hands together. "Nonsense! Of course we are!"

"Why are we hosting a party for Layla?" Stanely asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Because she's turning fifteen and we won't see her until next summer!"

"Michael," Jim began with a sigh and pinched his nose, "This isn't the best idea. Layla doesn't like to have her birthday with fanfare -"

"She rather sit home and watch a movie," Pam chimed in.

"Excellent! Movie viewing party it is! Angela, you do decorations! Phyllis and Kevin, the snacks! Stanely-"

"No."

* * *

**"WARREN,"** Layla called from the living room.

"Yeah, Hippie?" He yelled back.

"Wanna help me find a job?"

"Why?"

"Because I'm not leaving you alone in my aunt's house. Who knows what you and Will will do?"

"And I'm the problem?"

"Nope, you leave so whatever Stronghold breaks you have deniability."

Warren Peace prided himself on knowing every little tick of Layla's. He could hear whatever she felt in her voice. He could tell from the tiniest movement what she wanted. He read her better than anyone. After all, fire may scorch the earth but it's the sun that let's the plants grow. He heard her smile from the other room. A teasing smile that lit up the whole room and would cause his fire to spin out of control when they "dated".

"I like that thought, Hippie. I'll be ready in a second, just let me get my jacket!" Warren called back to her. He heard a noncommittal response and glanced around the kitchen. He may not have found souvenirs, but he did find food - which Pam was sorely lacking.

(No, poptarts did not count as food.)

When Warren found Layla, she wrote a note to Will in her ivy script. She sent him a bright smile after she finished and stood. "Let's go!" The Hippie grabbed his hand and began pulling him out the door.

If she was anyone else, he would've burned them.

But this was Layla.

It was _always_ Layla.

* * *

**"I THINK GREEN IS A WH-"**

"Angela, you better think twice about what you say about my niece's favorite color," Pam snapped at the blonde.

Angela glared at the strawberry blonde, but, out of respect for the girl they were celebrating, she quited down. Pam thanked whatever god existed for it, because she would've slapped the accountant if she made another "I think [insert color that isn't black, grey, or white here] is a whore's color" statement. Especially not towards her dau-niece.

Jim knocked on the door and Kelly waved him inside. "What do you need Jim?" She asked in her overly peppy way.

"Pam, Micheal wants us to go and pick out a cake," the salesman said. Pam sighed and stood.

"Please, please, please, let this not be a stripper cake," she prayed before exiting the conference room. She waited for Jim to make a face at the camera - because why not? - and then they left the office.

_It was a stripper cake._


End file.
